From blood-chilling clinics to spooktacular fun, York residents get into Halloween spirit

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 31, 2015
By Lisa Queen

With all the vampires out for blood on Halloween, you've got to hand it to the more than five dozen brave souls who rolled up their sleeves to donate the gift of life today.

"It was ghoulish," Newmarket resident Karen Morrison laughed after she donated blood at a Halloween clinic at the York Region Administrative Centre on Yonge Street in Newmarket.

While she and her husband, John, hadn't given Halloween much thought before going to the clinic, in retrospect Karen said she was glad they had eaten garlic last night to ward off vampires.

John admitted he wondered if any evil spirits played a role in his blood donor card disappearing at the clinic for about half an hour.

Newmarket's Joseph Talavera also didn't think about donating blood on Halloween when he booked his appointment.

"It was this morning when I woke up and realized 'Oh, wait a second, today is Halloween.' It is very fitting to be giving blood on Halloween," he said.

While there were many treats being shelled out by costumed volunteers from the Holland Landing Lions Club to donors after they were finished donating, Talavera joked there was something missing.

"I was disappointed there was no witches' brew today, but that's OK because it's still a very good cause," said the veteran donor, who rolled up his sleeve for his 76th donation.

The blood donor clinic wasn't the only place where York Region residents were getting into the spirit of the day.

At the Holland Landing Public Library, kids took part in a scavenger hunt and crafts as they counted down the hours before they could go out trick or treating.

Younger children hunted for story time puppets, which each held a letter that eventually spelled out the words "story time", while older kids used the Dewey decimal system to find books on spooky topics such as bats, cats, insects and pirates, library program assistant Caroline Stephenson said.

Sisters Ella and Ava Meyer of Holland Landing were dressed up as witches.

"I like witches because they ride on brooms," Ella, 5, said.

"I like them because they make spells and potions," Ava, 8, added.

Jack Tremblay, who said he is "three-and-half, of course", was busy at the craft table making a spider web and a fire-breathing dragon.

He was dressed as a spider "because I like the fact my belly is so soft".

Jack was looking forward to trick or treating.

"I hope to get all kinds of stuff," he said.

Halloween is a big celebration at the Tremblay home, Jack's mom, Hailey, said.

"We just love Halloween. We like to do different activities to get into the spirit," she said, pointing out she was dressed as a spider web to complement her son's costume.

"We do baking and games and come to things like this. We love Halloween. It's a huge thing in our house. We like to decorate. I love seeing all of the different costumes that the kids wear. It's just fun."

In Thornhill, families threw themselves into the fun of Halloween Spooktacular at Pleasant Ridge Library.

Activities included scary stories and throwing a ball in a jack-o'-lantern's mouth.